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Five Ways Not to Introduce Yourself to an Art Director

I posted these on my blog last night. Tristan Elwell suggested posting them here, and when Tristan speaks......

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Five Ways Not to Introduce Yourself to an Art Director:

1) Don't give me your postcard and then take it back to cross out your web address because "the work there isn't good."

2) Don't let me flip through half a portfolio and then stop me mid way to say "the rest is older work, you're probably not interested, and it's not good anyway."

3) Don't show me one, and only one, image on an iPhone. In fact, unless you know I am very familiar with your work, don't show me an iPhone portfolio at all.

4) "Hi, my name is XYZ......We're MySpace friends." Followed by silence thinking I'm going to remember you off the top of my head. Hell, I can't remember the names of people I actually meet.

5) 35mm slides!? I didn't even think you could buy slide film anymore.

Guys, you’re at ComicCon. Chances of running into an art director are, well, high. You didn't just happen to run into the ADs for every major gaming, comic, movie, and publishing companies at a neighborhood barbeque, so get your ducks in a row before making that first impression.

Dont try to be too smart for your own good. I tried that once at an interview, and all that happened were long awkward pauses while I tried to remember the 'smart' word for what I was trying to say...hmmm, on second thought that may just be my problem

Well boy am I in trouble...
I would probably do the second one right off the bat. xD

I am kinda self-conscious at times where I don't like the work I done in the past because I improved... Even though they do show improvement I just don't like them.
My sketchbook can be like a diary at times. Depends on my mood. xD

I'm a very silly person anyway.

I probably won't be able to attend one of those expo comiccon places because I'm so far away. Be fun though.

I've held a few interviews, myself, and my own little pet peeve is when the person getting interviewed hands me their "portfolio", which turns out to be a three-ringed binder filled completely with every ad, graphic, and piece of art they've ever made in their career. After the 16th page of "this is another ad I made for the Yellow Pages", my eyes sort of just cross over.

It's like at Revelations during the portfolio reviews, every piece I showed had their share of flaws but I kept my mouth shut and let the person looking give me their thoughts and impressions. Cutting yourself down in front of others makes it look like you have no confidence in yourself or your abilities.

Though I have to admit, when Manley looked at my work I was nervous as all hell. I didn't know what to say, even though I had a lot on my mind in regards to something he said during one of the lectures. That and the reality that important people were looking at my piddly art hit me like a ton of bricks at that moment. It took a lot to prevent myself form rambling on like a buffoon or bursting into tears. That would have been even more awkward.

2) Don't let me flip through half a portfolio and then stop me mid way to say "the rest is older work, you're probably not interested, and it's not good anyway."

I think a really good way of preventing that from happening, or help to keep it from happening at any rate, is to limit the number of pieces in your portfolio. 10 for example, or even 8. If you have a large number that you want to include, but have to edit a lot of those out chances are you've put a lot of thought into the pieces you have decided to inlcude and should feel happy with those that are included.

A lot of this is just nervousness. No one means to come across poorly, but everyone gets anxious at times, or just isn’t "on".

my advice on this for portfolio reviews is, if you get nervous during a review, the best thing you can do is shut your mouth! And that goes double when the reviewer is giving you a crit. Listen, nod, take notes, DO NOT ARGUE!

And if you feel ahead of time that something in your book needs to be defended, you probably shouldn't have it in there in the first place.

"Every little step considered one at a time is not terribly daunting" - Ethan Coen

my advice on this for portfolio reviews is, if you get nervous during a review, the best thing you can do is shut your mouth! And that goes double when the reviewer is giving you a crit. Listen, nod, take notes, DO NOT ARGUE!

I agree with this. I sat in on some portfolio reviews for the SND conference in Boston this past year. I was with some friends, other designers at different newspapers from the area and we were all at the same table looking at portfolios. I remember having one student in particular who seemed nervous at first and told us back-stories to every single page in his portfolio. Things like, who his roommates were and why their girlfriends, sister did something to the star football player who...blah, blah, blah. We critiqued his work and tried to be constructive on areas where he could improve. He began defending his work by arguing with us. I'll never forget his last words; "Well, that's just how we do it where I'm from." (fyi:I think he was from Atlanta)

After he walked away, it took a second or two for the four of us to realize what just happened. I've never experienced anything like it. He had traveled all the way to Boston to tell newspaper art directors how things are done. It was a first. So, yeah, please don't argue.

God yes, LESS IS MORE at a portfolio review. I can add one from my own experience:

8.) Do NOT bring original 16x24 charcoal life drawings and cast studies to an interview, particularly if it's for a graphic design position at a major newspaper.

My neighbor worked at the Boston Globe and wanted to do me a favor, so he set up an interview there for me during my sophomore year in college. I didn't want a job in graphic design anyway and was caught totally off guard, since my body of work until that point was all student stuff. I wasn't considered for the job of course and the nice interviewer was patient with me, but I could tell she was thinking "What the hell am I supposed to do with these... and oh crap, now there's charcoal all over my computer desk."

Also, I've been on the other end of things and done some portfolio reviews, both for the sake of my employer and recently at workshops. Take-aways are very important - DON'T give me a generic CD with your contact info written on it in Sharpie. Not once have I popped an art CD into my computer after an interview, it's been my experience that CDs just get filed away and forgotten. (If your demo reel is on the CD, this may be a different story, but having a personal portfolio website is always preferred.)

Plus, I am really crappy with names and faces (like most people), especially if I've seen like 50 portfolios that day; give me something visual to easily remind me who you are! PUT SOME KIND OF ART ON YOUR BUSINESS CARD!!! I also recommend printing up inexpensive booklets to give to art directors. If you decide the job isn't for you, you can always take it back but to give it to a potential employer is not only a great reminder to them of your body of work, but it's also like giving a little gift. I have had a lot of success with giving out the books, if nothing else for the sake of networking.

Excellent points, Jason and Steph. And everyone else. I'll be doing portfolio reviews in May so I'll be sure to incorporate a lot of this discussion into my blog before then.

IdiotApathy -- That was different -- you were hanging out with a bunch of friends sharing sketchbooks. In that case, having a quick access to a gadgety portfolio (with good work on it) was a cool thing.

By the way — it’s easy for me to say what’s wrong with a presentation from my side of the desk, but there is a reason I never became a freelancer. I’d starve to death while falling into everyone if these pitfalls.

This is some excellent advice guys. And while it mostly seems pretty common sense, having it in writing like this makes it easy to put on that mental checklist. I usually think of myself as fairly poised, but I know nerves get the best of me plenty of times- especially with that self-critiquing tendency. I don't think I've ever done it in front of an AD yet, but it's probably a habit to avoid period.

Here's something: Plain ol' figure drawing/painting. Does it ever have a place in a portfolio? I noticed a lot of that from my fellow hopefuls over NYCC and didn't feel it was MY place to knock it, but to me it created the impression of unnecessary filler. No matter how pretty, there's just no content.

"The merit of originality is not novelty; it is sincerity."
-Thomas Carlyle